In a Situation
by midnightdisaster95
Summary: Kind of AU. Flynn Rider has a messy past, and he runs into a deserted tower to get away from his life. Rapunzel is naive, but she's not stupid. And Pascal really likes cookies. My first multi-chap.
1. Chapter 1

**This is gonna be a pretty long story. My first multi-chapter. It should be about 20 chapters or so, but we'll see how things go. Rapunzel should pop up in the next chapter (:**

**Read and enjoy! (And leave reviews. Reviews are awesome)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled, but I swoon over them at every possible opportunity. And I own quite a bit of merchandise.**

**Prologue**

Mrs Darly was a plump woman with lush curves, soft eyes, and a generous heart. Being one of Corona's social workers, she had seen many cases, but cases such as these always made her heart hurt. It was never easy to thrust a child into the system, but there was so little that could be done.

Eugene Fitzherbert had been abandoned at birth. She felt a dull ache in her chest as she gazed upon the infant dozing in one of the many cots in the adoption ward. How parents could do such a thing was beyond her. Surely they felt a little pity for this child? Love? He was after all, their very own flesh and blood. Surely that should mean something.

The sharp end of her pencil snapped.

She sniffed sadly and stroked the tuft of soft brown hair that fell across his forehead. He had a nice nose, she decided. Sharp and stubborn. She smiled affectionately- he resembled her own little boy in a way. Suddenly, the boy's eyes opened. He gazed up at her curiously, not crying, but staring unabashedly. Mrs Darly found herself staring back. There was something magnetic about the dark brown eyes- she couldn't pull herself away. Little Eugene was a good-looking boy, there was no mistaking that. He reached out for her fingers and squeezed her index finger.

And Mrs Darly was sold.

**Chapter 1**

Flynn did not like doing what he was currently doing. It seemed like an awful lot of work for a little inherited doohickey. The thrill of it was quite exciting, but the constant niggling that what he was doing was wrong annoyed him. But he'd learnt to brush off conscience a long time ago, and it was getting boring, after doing it for almost ten years.

_One last job, _he reminded himself. _One last job, and I'm out of this forever. Off to my own private little island._

The lighting in this room was terrible. The décor was pretty decent in here, but it was so dark that one would always have their senses at the ready. But he supposed that it was the point. At a pub like the Duckling, one needed to be on one's toes. The owner of the Duckling was a pretty shady person himself.

He laid down his cards and suavely grinned at the man sitting opposite. This was in the bag. He'd gamble that little trinket into his hands and get out of here.

The fellow opposite was a large man, and his knuckles were enormous. _Good for cracking skulls_, Flynn thought morbidly.

Flynn had to admit, Mr Crystal was an intimidating fellow. It was no wonder that he was very much feared in Corona City's underworld. He had dark, cold eyes that seemed to hiss murder. But Flynn Rider was not afraid of anything. He was undefeated at cards. Actually, he was pretty much undefeated at everything. Except pie eating, perhaps.

Mr Crystal looked unimpressed. _Then again_, Flynn thought with a sigh_, perhaps his face was just arranged that way._

Mr Crystal laid down his cards, and Flynn decided that Mr Crystal was sharper than he was giving him credit for. Quite a lot sharper. Flynn inwardly groaned. His chances of getting defeated suddenly seemed the closest they'd ever been. He wanted to feel sorry for himself, but there wasn't time for that now. Maybe later.

Perhaps they'd better attempt this again another time. There was still time. Mr Crystal was only leaving at the end of the month. They could haggle over this shiny thing again next week- or they could get another guy to try a different tactic, and split it three ways. Flynn baulked at the idea, but money was money, no matter the amount.

_And this was supposed to be your last job._

'Bud? I hope you planned dinner,' he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

_We may have to cut this little party short. Let's get out of here._

Flynn's accomplice surprised him by coming forward, picking up his cards and shuffling them, his mouth in a frown but his eyes guilty.

'Bud?' Flynn gasped. The dreadful truth began to dawn on him. It couldn't be.

Bud Darly shot him a defiant look, fisting a hand in his sandy hair.

'You were gonna split 60-30. Mr Crystal here, he's being much more generous,' his lip trembled a little, 'and he's offering me a deal-' he swallowed painfully, 'I could not refuse.'

Flynn shook his head in disbelief. He could not believe this. He did not want to believe it. Bud Darly was his brother.

Mr Crystal's features contorted into what seemed like a smile for him, and he gestured to one of his guards, 'Stabbington, lead Mr Rider out. And if he doesn't cooperate, don't hesitate to shoot him.'

The tall, burly guard pulled Flynn by the shoulder out, and Flynn sent one last penetrating stare at the man whom he had always called brother.

Good ol' Bud betray him? He would have never guessed. Bud Darly looked away, unable to meet his gaze. What could Mr Crystal have offered him that was so un-refusable?

Stabbington roughly nudged him out the door, and the eye that wasn't covered with an eye patch eyed him with disdain. Stabbington crossed his arms and gave him a look of unadulterated dislike.

'Your own brother betrayed you. Even my own brother would never do that. What kind of scum-'

Flynn pulled as hard a punch he could muster into Stabbington's uncovered eye. Stabbington yelled with pain, and reached for his gun.

_It was supposed to be his very last job._

But Flynn Rider was already running away as fast as he could.

Stabbington watched Rider run, his eye stinging but his hand still firmly on his gun. Rider was running out of Corona, into the forest. Stabbington laughed. Hopefully, they wouldn't see his sorry ass for a long time yet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Flynn kept running and running. He was not looking where he was going, except that he could not stand to look back. He ran until his legs gave out and he had to sit down by a stream to catch his breath.

That was when he realized he hadn't looked where exactly he was running and he had run straight into the forest. The next big city was not for miles and miles, and he'd need a place to get food. He could sleep anywhere, eying the large rock on the ground as a prospective pillow- but he was no hunter.

He looked back at the direction of Corona, where his brother had sold him out on their very last job.

Bile rose in his throat and he puked out all he had eaten for lunch.

Flynn got up and dusted his pants clean. He needed to find a place to hide out at, while he planned his next move. And he was frankly too exhausted to think up any great scheme right now. He looked around the dense forest surrounding him. He sighed. Perhaps he should just keep walking till he found a nice little cottage with a charitable old lady who he could charm into letting him stay a few nights. Who was he kidding? He was one of Corona's most wanted. Well, at least, his alias was. He still had his real name, and only a select few knew it.

One of whom was Bud Darly.

Flynn puked again.

Flynn just kept walking, though his legs were absolutely exhausted. Seeing a big waterfall, he knocked off his boots and jumped in, hoping to clear his head a little bit. Wading through the waterfall, he suddenly realized that there was a nice dry hollow space behind the curtain of leaves. Perking up a little, he fetched his boots and crossed through it- only to realize that it was not a 'hollow space', but a pretty vast valley.

And standing in the middle of it was one of the most peculiar towers he had ever seen. It was at least 40 feet tall, and it had all sorts of moss growing along the walls. It had a single turret, but it was thatched such that it looked rather homey. Alongside it ran a little stream, which led to the waterfall pool he had washed in.

It was really quite pretty, he thought, and he remembered the charitable old lady who could possibly be living in there. Suddenly, he caught the whiff of freshly baked cookies. He grinned. An old lady definitely lived here. That simplified things a great deal.

He walked straight towards the tower, and hunted for a door. However, after walking around the base of the tower three times, he came to the conclusion that there wasn't a door. Or if there was, it had been bricked up.

Flynn was too tired to think out the logic of an old lady living in the middle of a deserted valley in a 40 foot tower with no door, so he decided to channel his frustration into the physical exertion of climbing up. He should have brought his grappling hook. There were some sturdy looking vines hanging alongside the walls, so he used them to hoist himself up. As he climbed onto the ledge, he barely surveyed his surroundings. He embraced the dim lighting and took note of the huge sweeping paintings on the walls. They were most definitely done by a girl. But as his brain clouded over with fatigue, he saw a welcome little corner, and deciding he was sufficiently safe for now, he crawled over and closed his eyes.

His last conscious thought was that those cookies smelled like heaven, and he hoped he wouldn't have to seduce the old woman to get his hands on one.

Rapunzel could feel it the moment she felt the person climbed into her tower. It certainly was not Mother. Her hands, with which she had just used to take out a tray of cookies from the oven, froze. Even Pascal, her pet chameleon, who had been eyeing the hot cookies, turned his head sharply. She exchanged glances with Pascal, who had turned an alarming shade of red.

Putting a finger to her lips, she picked up the closest heavy object- a frying pan. Pascal jumped onto her shoulder and turned a brave blue to offer moral support. Though her arms were shaking, she crept towards the kitchen door and peeked out. At first glance, nothing looked out of place. And then, she heard snoring. Her green eyes widened as she saw the big person sprawled out, leaning against her cupboard.

She very nearly yelled. Out of alarm, out of surprise, out of amazement.

But instead she squeaked because she did not want to wake him. She began to hyperventilate.

There was a- she blinked, it certainly was not a woman- man in her tower. She had never seen a man before. Never, in her eighteen years. But he wasn't old, she gathered. In fact, he looked fairly pleasant, if a little tired. His hair was a little damp- Rapunzel wondered if he had washed it in the stream outside her tower. She squeezed her hair in a calming gesture.

_Breathe, _she reminded herself. _Its not as though he's come because he wants to take me away from this place._

_Or does he?_

_Relax_, Rapunzel ordered herself. There was plenty of time to interrogate him later. But in this case, she had the advantage. Mother would not be home for two days yet, and that was sufficient time to question him all she wanted. Just because he was from the outside world and she was not, didn't mean that she was disadvantaged in any way.

She looked around herself wildly, wondering how she had the advantage.

Pascal whirred, and pointed down to the frying pan in her hand, and then to the array of cooking utensils she had in the kitchen.

Rapunzel grinned and nudged him gratefully. Pascal was a great friend.

Yes, she certainly had the advantage- she had her weapons, and this was her home ground.

But now, she'd have to prove it to the strange man who was slumped up against her cupboard.


	3. Chapter 3

This will be a pretty long chapter! Thanks for the story-alerts/reviews, means the world (:

Chapter 3

When Flynn awoke, he realized that there was an awful crick in his neck. And then he realized that he was in a very tight, enclosed space. He stretched out an arm to feel around his surroundings, and struck wood. He cursed.

It was stupid of him to climb into a random tower and fall asleep. It certainly was not the way he usually did things. He was normally a lot more cautious. What had happened?

He squeezed his eyes tight shut. Bud Darly had led him straight into the Duckling, right into Mr Crystal's trap. He shuddered to think what might have happened if he had hung around Stabbington for a minute longer.

He remembered Stabbington's fingers fumbling to grab the cold gun hooked on his belt. He had a pretty good idea what would have happened.

He hadn't gotten the goods. The burning sense of defeat burned in him, made him scowl in embarrassment. It wouldn't happen again.

_That was supposed to be your last job._

His shoulders slumped in defeat. It felt wrong to end his career on such a sour note. He'd had a good run, with a perfect streak of successful heists and gambles. Why did this have to happen on his very last job?

He opened his eyes and became aware that there was a slim beam of light shining on his face. He squinted, and spied the outside curiously.

It was a slightly dim room, but quite large, with polished, clean-looking floors. The most striking thing about the room was the sweeping paintings that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. They were very feminine paintings of nature, but they suited the pleasant atmosphere of the tower. He tried to push the door open, but he looked down and saw that it had been bolted.

With a rolling pin.

Unsure whether to be amused or suspicious, he struggled against the door for a while, before he gave up when his neck gave a painful twinge.

Suddenly, pair of large green eyes were peering at him through the doors.

He gave a yelp of surprise.

'He's awake!' the girl breathed.

Her eyes narrowed.

'What are you doing here, and who are you?'

Flynn silently heaved a sigh of relief. The girl didn't know who he was. She hadn't called the authorities on him. And most importantly, she seemed to be quite alone. He cleared his throat, and tried answering as smoothly as he could from a closet,

'I'm Flynn Rider, at your service.'

The name didn't seem to register with her, for there was no blink of recognition, no gasp of horror.

Her eyes however, did narrow further. A few strands of blonde hair fell over her eyes, and she swept them away carelessly. An indignant little squeak was heard.

'Well, Flynn Rider-'

Flynn didn't like the way his name rolled off her tongue. It sounded more wrong than he knew it already was. It sounded more like a lie than he liked to acknowledge. Maybe it was her accusing tone. He cringed just a little.

'I don't think you crept into my tower to be of service to me.'

She sounded bemused now. And her green eyes seemed to be laughing. Just a little. Flynn decided to play along.

'Well, Blondie-'

'Rapunzel.'

Huh. Weird name. Sounded german.

'Rapunzel, I was in a situation, ran across your tower, smelled some delicious cookies, decided to climb your tower, and crashed 'cause I was tired.'

It was quite an understatement for all that had happened yesterday, but she hardly needed to know all the heartbreaking details, right?

'That's all?' she seemed to relax significantly. Somehow he seemed to hear a wheezing noise.

She was trusting and gullible. He didn't think that worked as a point in her favor, considering the current situation. But it was kind of cute.

Flynn nodded.

And now the girl looked pleased.

'You could smell my cookies?'

He could've sworn that the squeak he heard previously that had turned to a wheeze was now a squeal. Where the heck was that coming from? Was this girl a ventriloquist?

Flynn was still stuck in the closet till lunchtime.

He knew it was lunchtime because Rapunzel told him so. She also babbled on about the forest and did-he-see-the-blueberry-shrub-that-is-right-beneath-her-tower? She talked about different kinds of jam, and how some of her cookies hadn't turned out quite as expected.

Flynn barely replied or joined in her conversation, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be chirping and squealing back to herself a fair bit. He wondered if he should be concerned for her sanity.

He was getting an eerie feeling that she talked to herself a lot, and his lack of response was nothing out of the ordinary.

'Flynn-' she called from the kitchen.

'Are you hungry?'

His stomach suddenly gave a low grumble. He had forgotten that it had existed.

'Um, yeah,' he said cautiously.

Her green eyes were staring at him again.

'If I let you out,' she said slowly, 'I am armed,' she finished lamely.

Flynn raised an eyebrow. This girl was getting stranger by the minute.

She slid out the rolling pin and opened the door.

And Flynn got his first proper look at Rapunzel.

Rapunzel was pretty short. She was… young. And she smelled nice. Like baked goods. She was a teenager, he decided. She had a pert nose and full lips, which were currently pursed. She looked intelligent. She had a… frog, who was holding a cookie nestled on her shoulder, quite comfortably. The frog gave a cheerful chirp. So that was the cause of the weird noises. He was starting to think Rapunzel was a bit insane.

'Pascal,' she gestured.

And her hair was… Wow.

He felt the breath whoosh from his body.

He knew her hair was blonde, but it was incredibly long. It tumbled down her back, beyond her ankles, to the floor, and was lying in circles on the floor. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

'Is that- hair?'

Rapunzel looked rather self-conscious, as she tugged on it rather nervously, a frying pan tucked under her other arm.

'Yes, yes it is,' she answered defiantly. Crossing her arms, she shot him her bravest, most careless glance.

'Do you want lunch or not?'

Pascal squealed.

Lunch was pie. Some sort of fruit pie. Flynn was starting to think that the girl lived on a diet of baked goods. She also had a plate of cookies on the table, which Pascal (whom he now learned was a CHAMELEON, not a frog) was stuffing into his mouth continuously.

But it was delicious, and Flynn had third helpings. Rapunzel looked absolutely delighted- you'd think that she'd never received any sort of compliment- verbal or non-verbal, before.

To his amusement, Rapunzel had sat him down next to the closet, and used a length of her hair to tie him to it. She told him it was a precaution, but he couldn't help but think this was one of the most ridiculous situations he'd ever gotten into.

Shoveling pie into his mouth, he decided that it was time he found out a little bit more about this strange girl. He was genuinely curious. What kind of girl stayed in the middle of the forest in a deserted valley in a 40-foot tower with no door? And how did she get her food supplies? And most baffling, why did she keep her hair like that?

'So, Blondie-'

'Rapunzel'

'Rapunzel, what brought you to this tower?'

Rapunzel bit her lip, as though reluctant to tell him anything. She'd never met another human being before, besides her mother- and furthermore, he was a man. A nice man from how he treated her so far- but her mother had warned her about men.

She would have to be careful. She toyed with the rim of her teacup.

'I've been here for a while,' she hedged.

'Really?' Flynn was a master at concealing his emotions. 'How long, exactly? You can't be very old- sixteen? Seventeen?'

'I'm eighteen tomorrow,' Rapunzel said proudly.

Flynn had to grin. He was an entire eight years older. She made him feel old.

'And you've been living here for a while?'

'Quite a few years,' Rapunzel said casually.

'That explains all the paintings- nice work by the way.'

She gaped with surprise and then flushed with pleasure, and Flynn once again wondered if compliments were such a rare occurrence for her.

'You live here alone?' Flynn couldn't help but think that living alone here wasn't the safest thing to do, especially for a young, rather attractive young girl, and if she did- perhaps she wasn't as intelligent as he had first thought.

'Oh no,' Rapunzel said brightly, 'I live here with my Mother.'

'Oh.' Flynn tried to imagine a slightly older version of Rapunzel, but couldn't make it past the blonde hair. Maybe if her mother had brown hair…

'Mother is coming back tomorrow,' Rapunzel continued, 'if you need to stay here longer than that-' her face changed, became more anxious, 'you'll have to cooperate with me to see that she doesn't find out.'

'Your Mother isn't very welcome to visitors,' Flynn joked.

Rapunzel shook her head silently, then turned her head to stare squarely at Flynn, the first man she had ever seen in her life.

What a day it had been. She downed her tea in one gulp as she wondered what her Mother would think.

'You have no idea.'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Thank you for the nice reviews and story alerts! I'll try to update minimum 1 chapter a week. I'm not the most experienced with multi-chaps, and it's quite a challenge to always know where your story going- but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Thanks for reading! –Mel**

Flynn was pretty sure there was something really creepy going on in Rapunzel's life with the isolation, absent Mother, inexistent Father, and most of all, the crazy long hair- but he decided that it was Rapunzel's problem, not his own.

He had his own issues to deal with.

Everyone had their own issues after all.

Flynn hated failure. He rarely failed- save for that one time he hadn't managed to out-eat Bud that year at the carnival. But he outdid him thoroughly ever since, eating twice as much as Bud the next year, then throwing up three times as much afterwards. Thinking about Bud still hurt.

The idea of not succeeding at his last job ate at him, and he found himself scribbling plans on the sheets of paper Rapunzel brought him.

Rapunzel had finally agreed to undo the hair-shackle from around his wrist, but she had reminded him firmly that she had weapons, and then she pointed to her kitchen.

After crushing up his twentieth idea, which once again had him suffocating Bud in the most painful way possible- Flynn sighed. If he was going to get any closure over Bud's betrayal, he had to confront his brother, face-to-face. They were still brothers, after all. They would settle it like men. And then, he would get the Corona tiara from Crystal. Somehow.

He glanced up at Rapunzel, who was currently working on a painting around a window. She worked slowly and steadily, her lips pursed in concentration, carefully outlining and repainting until the topcoat was smooth and neat. It was strangely soothing, watching her work, with her long blond hair circled around her.

She had a smear of blue paint on the side of her chin. He almost grinned. It was kind of cute. She was still wearing the same purple dress she was wearing that morning that seemed just a little small and ill fitting. It's hem was supposed to be at her feet, but it only ended at her ankles. It was obviously quite worn- but it was in fairly good condition. Most women would go to lengths to dress up in the presence of a man such as himself, but her lack of self-consciousness was rather endearing.

He would stay here a couple days more, he decided. Gather his wits before he started on what would truly be his last project. Having company like Rapunzel could prove pleasant, he mused. She was quite pretty, and she didn't seem to mind him staying a while. He tore his gaze away from her and looked back at his crumpled work. So now Rapunzel's Mother would become his problem after all.

Great.

Rapunzel wondered about Flynn. Where was he from? Did he have any family? How did he like living in the outside world?

He had been through something that had led him to her tower. Something bad- she was pretty sure about that. At least Flynn didn't seem dangerous in any way. He hadn't come for her hair, or to take advantage of her powers. On the contrary, he seemed completely oblivious. She silently heaved a sigh of relief. Well, at least her secret was safe. And Flynn was pleasant enough company- except for the fact that he was littering her floor, she thought wryly.

She looked up at Flynn from her painting. He was brooding over the crumpled pieces of paper. He looked like he needed a distraction. Pascal raised his eyebrows and gestured towards him.

If he wasn't going to make conversation, she would.

She put down her paintbrush.

'So, Flynn, where are you from?'

Flynn glanced up.

'Uh, Corona,' he gestured vaguely to the south.

Her curiosity was piqued.

'Co-ro-na,' she rolled the name off her tongue. It sounded strangely familiar.

'I've never been there,' Rapunzel murmured, more to herself than to Flynn.

Flynn raised his eyebrows. Corona was the nearest big city, and she'd never been there? Newhaven wasn't for miles and miles. How long had this girl been staying in this tower again?

'You don't ever miss the outside world?' he asked.

Rapunzel's eyes widened, as though she had never been asked that question before.

'I suppose not,' she said rather sadly.

She scrambled to her feet and shot him a half-hearted smile.

'I'll go prepare dinner. You are staying till after tomorrow right?'

Flynn nodded.

'I'll show you what you need to do later.'

She walked to the kitchen, a blue Pascal at her heels.

Flynn watched her leave. Rapunzel's situation was getting weirder and weirder. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what was going on, because he was sure it'd be pretty awful. There was something eerie about the entire situation. He almost felt sorry for her.

And Flynn Rider had learned the hard way that developing any kind of affection was the worst thing to do.

He turned back to his plans, and found that he was completely devoid of any motivation now. He needed a drink badly. Something to numb his thoughts, so his mind wouldn't wander to Bud or Crystal. Thinking about them made him want to punch something, and he was sure that Rapunzel wouldn't appreciate him making a hole in her wall.

He highly doubted Rapunzel stocked gin and tonics though.

After dinner, Rapunzel brought him upstairs to a large, circular room at the top of the tower of the room. Draperies and tapestries hung from the ceiling, and Rapunzel's signature whimsical paintings adorned the walls. Everything was done in bright, cheery colours.

'This is my room.' Rapunzel gestured.

It suited her.

Flynn stuck his hands in his pockets. He felt slightly awkward in this teenage-girl's room because it just felt slightly wrong and improper. He'd climbed out of girl's windows before, but it didn't seem right for Rapunzel. She seemed too pure to be subject to any sort of impropriety.

She walked over to her bed, and Flynn gulped.

He hoped that he wouldn't have to share the bed with her.

And she lifted up a loose floorboard.

Flynn heaved a sigh of relief, then felt a twinge of disappointment… What?

'There's some space in here,' she said.

Flynn scooted over behind Rapunzel, and looked down the surprisingly large hiding space. It wasn't very deep, but it was long. Just large enough for him to lie inside if he tucked his knees up.

'It's a little small,' Rapunzel muttered.

Flynn tapped her shoulder lightly.

'It's okay. I'll manage. I've been in tighter spots before.'

'We must make sure my Mother doesn't see you at all.'

Flynn cast her a concerned glance. Rapunzel looked really anxious.

'Alright,' he agreed.

'No, really, we have to be really careful that she doesn't even suspect that there is someone else here. She shouldn't be here too long, but if she sees you, I don't know what she'd do.'

Flynn laughed dryly.

'You make her sound horrifying. Mothers can be protective, but they generally only want the best for you.'

Rapunzel nodded. Flynn was right. Though her Mother seemed to be rather irrational sometimes, all she wanted was to protect her.

She smiled at him.

'Alright. About sleeping positions tonight-'

Flynn felt his throat close up.

'You can have my bed; I'll sleep in my Mother's room. Come on, Pascal.'

She bade him goodnight, her long blond hair trailing behind her, while Pascal shot him a long look before he chirped and scampered away.

**I'm looking forward to starting on the next chapter! We'll finally meet Mother Gothel. I don't know if you've realized, but Rapunzel isn't supposed to be as curious about the outside world (because she doesn't have a motivation… yet) as she is in the original material. That doesn't make her any less resourceful of course, but it does change how they'll be getting out of the tower 2/3 chapters ahead.**

**Please review! (:**


End file.
